American Girl
by mrswillturner
Summary: Ron can't wait for his chance to ask Hermione out sixth year so that they could be the couple he had dreamed of. Little did he know that a new student from AMERICA would change all of his plans... PG for now...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters in this story. J.K. Rowling just happened to think them all up first. Darn.   
  
American Girl  
  
Sprinting through the barrier into Platform 9 ¾, Ron was once again amazed by the beautiful sight of the Hogwarts Express. Though he had been going to the magical school for five years now, it still caused him as much joy and surprise as it did the very first time he saw it. Ron breathed in the wonderful fresh air and pushed his cart over to the train compartment where his two best friends stood.  
  
Harry saw Ron first and called out to him with a big grin, "Hey, Ron!" Hermione looked over and a smile crept across her face.  
  
"Ron! We've been waiting for you!" she said wrapping her arms around him in a great hug. For some reason she looked different to him then the summer before, not just in looks, but the way she carried herself made her look so beautiful and radiant. Ron was taken aback by her hug, but returned it with all of the same eagerness.  
  
"Hey Hermione!" he replied, pulling back from the hug and staring straight at her, not aware of anything around him, just Hermione, only Hermione.  
  
"Hey Ron! It's Harry! I'm here too!" Harry gave Ron a friendly punch, wondering why he had barely noticed him.  
  
"Oh hey Harry," Ron said still looking at Hermione. "How was your summer?"  
  
"Not too good. Since I won't be staying with Sirius now, I have to live with the Dursley's, so..." his voice trailed off, looking down at his feet. He was still tender about Sirius' death, and it especially pained him that he would have to stay at the Dursley's for the duration of Hogwarts.  
  
"Oh Harry," said Hermione, taking his hand, "I'm so sorry."  
  
"Yeah," added Ron, "It'll be okay. Let's load our stuff onto the train."  
  
The three of them headed onto the train, and found an empty compartment. They all sat down, Harry next to Ron, and Hermione across from them. Ron purposefully sat across from his friend so he could look at her some more. His feelings for her certainly hadn't relinquished over the summer, and he couldn't wait for the fresh new year to try and start something more than friendship with her.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all began to talk, about their summers, and about the new school year. The train started, slowly at first, then picking up speed accelerating down the track. Ron still kept his eyes on Hermione. He knew that this was the year, the year where everything would turn out as he hoped. He and Hermione would finally be together after all these years of waiting. Little did he know that someone who would cause substantial disruption to his perfect scenario was lurking around the corridors of the train, looking for an empty compartment. 


	2. Chapter 2

American Girl: Chapter Two  
  
Kirsten Mullon stepped onto the Hogwarts express, taking in the amazing sights around her. Never in America had she seen anything like this. She had thought that her American wizarding school had been nice, but this made her school look like an outhouse. Anxious to see what the actual school looked like, Kirsten grabbed her trolley and began to seek a compartment.  
Peeking through the frosted windows, Kirsten saw a group of kids who she thought looked friendly. She straightened her Abercrombie skirt, fixed her hair, and slowly opened the compartment door.  
A girl with bushy hair, a boy with glasses and messy hair, and a red- headed boy looked up at her as she entered the compartment. All three seemed shocked at who they saw. "Hello!" Kirsten said, walking forward to shake their hands. "I'm Kirsten, an exchange student from America. What's up?" She attempted a typical American handshake, but none of the three were familiar with this common ritual. A little shaken, Kirsten sat down next to the girl.  
"What're you're names?" she asked, her different accent loud and confident.  
"I'm... Harry. Harry Potter," Harry answered hesitantly, intimidated by her audacity. "And this is Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley."  
Kirsten stared at him in disbelief. "Oh my God. You're Harry Potter? Like, the Harry Potter? Shut up! Shut the heck up!"  
"All I said was I was Harry..." he trailed off. She was much different than all the other girls at Hogwarts... more outgoing and blunt, but in a charming sort of way.  
Ron now approached Kirsten. "Like he said, I'm Ron. Where're you from? I've never seen you here before."  
"Yeah," agreed Hermione. "I think I would have noticed you."  
Kirsten laughed. "I'm an exchange student from America. We have a wizarding school over there too! It's great, but I decided that it would be off the chain to travel to England. What's Hogwarts like? I've heard it's, like, really tight. I was reading Hogwarts: A History and it said all this crazy stuff like how there are houses and points and you get to go downtown and there's, like, a competition and quidditch teams and tons of awesome stuff. I love quidditch by the way I'm a keeper. Do you have a keeper position open? That'd be so cool! It really sucks because America doesn't have a national quidditch team, but the schools still let the kids play. I don't know what house I'm going to be in yet, I'm getting sorted with the first years which will probably be a little embarrassing but I hope that I'll get Gryffindor! It sounds awesome. Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad I guess. What houses are you guys in? Ooh, I hope the people in my house are nice! Wow you guys sure are quiet people why don't you say something?" she babbled on and on, scarcely pausing for breath.  
'How does she do that?' Ron thought. 'She just talks and talks without even stopping to think!'  
"Wow," Hermione said, flabbergasted. "You sure can talk!"  
Kirsten took a deep breath. "Well, we Americans tend to talk a little on the too much side, but most people get used to it. Oh you hate me now don't you? I always do the wrong thing! I talk too much or too little or not at all or say the wrong thing or look at people weird or hurt people's feelings or something stupid! I knew I wasn't going to make any friends! I'm just going to be the freaky outcast American kid who everybody hates and makes fun of behind her back. Maybe I should go back to good old NorCal..."  
All three kids laughed. Ron put his hand on her shoulder. "I think you'll fit in just fine with us."  
'Wow, these kids are nice!' Kirsten thought, straightening her skirt yet again. 'Maybe I will fit in!' She looked over at Ron, looking at his long, curly, red hair and striking blue eyes. He was pretty dang hot! She at up taller and lifted her chin. "So," she began again, straining to talk slower and more clearly this time. "You're Harry Potter. I've read a lot about you. You sound so amazing in writing! I didn't imagine you looking quite the way you look though, maybe a little more buff and big and strong, not that you're, like, not or anything, just a little smaller than normal children but not, like, malnutrition or anything like that, and I imagine you're not anorexic or something. Okay I'll stop talking now. Umm, oh gees, how was y'all's summer?"  
  
Ron leaned in closer, looking straight into the girls eyes, forgetting that Hermione, his love, the one who he belonged with, was sitting next to her. He breathed in her scent, making a memory of this moment, when he first spotted her. She had a perfumey smell, but not overpowering, like she had frolicked through a meadow full of scented flowers. Her face was natural, very little makeup or glitter, which made him think that she was self- confident and comfortable with how she looked. Ron liked that in a girl. Unaware that people around him were talking and having a good time, Ron let loose a deep sigh.  
Harry looked over at Ron. "Umm, are you okay?" Ron snapped back into the real world and scooted back next to Harry. He had unconsciously slid unnaturally close to the girls on the bench in front of him. He sat up straight, and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, great." He smiled at Kirsten.  
  
Hermione examined Ron curiously. He had never acted like this around girls before. It was funny that he had chosen now to fall in love, with this new girl he had never seen before. She knew it was love, for she had seen that look in his eyes many times before, the glittering diamonds that shone in his eyes making his whole face light up and with a slight smirk in the corner of his lips. She knew it was love because it was the look that she had accepted from him every day since the fourth year. The look in his eyes that she looked forward to every day, and missed while she was sleeping. The look she missed dearly for when she was away from him for more than a few minutes, the look she lived for. And it was no longer for her. It had been given away, thrown to the first skirt he had seen on the train ride, the first ass that came walking into the compartment. But she was going to have to accept it, and accept it smiling. And that's what she did, look over at Kirsten with a smile on her lips, and glistening tears in the corners of her eyes. But who was to notice? Not Ron... 


	3. Chapter 3

American Girl: Chapter 3

When they finally arrived at Hogwarts, Kirsten stepped off the compartment and onto the platform, taking in all the new sights and smells and sounds around her. She barely got a chance to look around when she saw a huge man feet taller than her approach her. Before she got the chance to become scared, Ron came up behind her and whispered, "Don't worry about him. That's Hagrid the groundskeeper. He wouldn't hurt a fly."  
Hagrid came up to Kirsten and held out his hand. "Ello there! I'm Hagrid. Dumbledore's asked me to tell you that yer to follow the first years to the school. That means yer to come with me."

She took his large hand, shaking violently as the giant shook his hellos. Kirsten waved goodbye to her newfound friends, and followed Hagrid to the tiny little boats.

Stepping into the nearest boat, she found herself surrounded be three little first years, each at least a head shorter than her. They were three little boys, unmistakably triplets. "Hello," she said to them. "I'm Kirsten. I'm new here from America. What're your names?"

"I'm Zach," said one of them. He was definitely the most outgoing of the three. "And these are my brothers, Jack and Mack." They each nodded in her direction, smiling broad smiles. Mischievous, broad smiles.

"Cute! You're names rhyme! I wish I was a triplet," Kirsten smiled at the boys, and leaned over the side looking into the deep murky water. Hogwarts was so beautiful, the castle was much huger than the one in America, or at least it looked like it from her point of view. Out of the corner of her eye Kirsten thought she saw something move in the lake. She leaned over the side again, trying to catch a glimpse of the creature or whatever it was. Her nose almost touching the water, Kirsten felt the boat rocking. She turned around in time to see three identical faces move towards her and push her into the icy depths.

Down she fell, the icy water encircling her body, chilling to the bone. Kirsten threw her arms and legs reaching for the surface, towards her dream school, but an arm suddenly wrapped around hers, a large arm with suction cups. It began to pull her to the bottom, down to its den. She screamed, but it was only silence in this underwater world. "I'm going to die," she thought. "I'm going to die before I even see the inside of Hogwarts. This sucks!" But another huge arm grabbed her hands and pulled her out of the lake.

Kirsten was thrown into Hagrid's boat, gasping and choking for air. She looked around to see Hagrid and three other children, staring at her with open mouths.

"Are ye alright?" Hagrid asked with a worried tone. "I was scared sick I was! What happened?"

Kirsten sat up in the boat and tucked her sopping hair behind her ears. She knew she probably looked like a wretched mess. "Those boys..." she said, jerking her head around wildly looking for them. "The look-alike boys. I'm going to RIP THEIR IDENTICAL HEADS OFF!"

Inside the castle, wrapped in a warm blanket and at least partially dried off, Kirsten and the first years stood waiting for their turn to put on the sorting hat. Kirsten thought that Hogwarts was the most beautiful place she had ever seen. There were beautiful paintings and tapestries on every wall, and so many gorgeous statues. She was so excited to see her common room, whichever one it would be. Kirsten was very nervous about the sorting. She had no idea which house she would be in. And she didn't know any of the people in any of the houses, except for Harry Potter, and that Granger girl, and Ron... Wow, he was goodlooking. And nice too. Kirsten hoped beyond belief that she would be in Gryffindor, with her only friends. With a tap of Dumbledore's glass the sorting began, but she knew she had a while. Mullon was luckily toward the middle of the alphabet.

"When I call your name," Professor McGonagall began, (Kirsten had been introduced to her just before then) "Please step forward, and we will place the Sorting Hat on your head. You will then proceed to your houses. Ackland, Emelia!"

Kirsten zoned out for a little while. She knew she had a while to wait until her turn. She looked around the huge Great Hall, stopping at each table to look at the kids. First was Ravenclaw, nothing special there. Then Gryffindor. Ooh! There was her trio of friends! She stopped and waved at them, winking at Ron. He blushed a deep shade of scarlet, at waved back at her. Then Hufflepuff, which was pretty boring. And after them was Slytherin, the bad boys. She looked at each guy briefly, but stopped a boy with blond hair, and striking grey eyes. He was amazing looking. She noticed he was looking at her too. When their eyes met, he smirked at her. So cute. She wondered if he was nice? He sure was hot...

"Mullon, Kirsten. MULLON, KIRSTEN!"

Kirsten snapped to attention, jogged up the stairs to the stool, and took a seat. She could hear the people at the tables snickering, and could feel her ears turning pink. But she took a deep breath and straightened her skirt.

"This," said McGonagall, "Is Kirsten Mullon. She is spending this year here at Hogwarts as a part of our new student exchange program. She is from California in the United States and goes to NorCal School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I expect you all to treat her with the same respect as she will surely treat you. Introduce yourself and make sure her stay here is really pleasant. She could have been automatically placed into a house, but Kirsten decided it was being most fair to just be sorted." And with that said, the teacher placed the old raggedy hat on her head.

_Hmmmm, _Said the sorting hat, inside Kirsten's head. _Interesting. I've never encountered an American before. Verrry interesting, Pretty intelligent, extremely cunning, definitely brave, boy crazy. But where to put you? Any preferences? _

Not Hufflepuff, Kirsten thought, not quite sure if the hat could hear her, but too embarrassed to speak aloud. And I'm probably not smart enough for Ravenclaw. I have friends in Gryffindor already, but I suppose Slytherin wouldn't be too bad. So Gryffindor or Slytherin if you please.

_Good choices. Very good choices. Either would be excellent for you, but since your only here for a year, I bet friends are very important to you. Be that the case it better be... _GRYFFINDOR!


	4. Chapter 4

American Girl Chapter 4:

Yes! Ron thought to himself while he sat at the Gryffindor table. She's a Gryffindor! Now I'll be able to get to know her even better. He joined the cheering and clapping from his table with a horse whistle and scooted away from Harry to clear a spot for her. Harry gave him a funny look while he motioned for her to sit down next to him. She jogged over to their table and took the empty seat between him and Harry, and across from Hermione.

"Hey guys!" she whispered. "This is awesome! I'm so glad I'm a Gryffindor. I swear that hat just asked me which house I wanted."

"Well, we're glad you told him Gryffindor!" Harry said, patting Kirsten on the back. "At least you didn't pick Slytherin of something. Now we know that you're one of us."

"Yeah," Kirsten said, glancing around the room nervously. Good thing he didn't decide to put me there, she thought. I should've known better. "Well, now what do we do?"

"We wait," Hermione said, gesturing toward the children still waiting to be sorted. "And then we eat."

Just as the words came out of Hermione's mouth, Zwick, Zebidiah was sorted into Ravenclaw, and Dumbledore stood up to speak once more.

"Congratulations First Years. You will soon see that these people you are sitting next to will be become your friends, or rather, your family. So talk! Get to know these people. And tuck in."

The golden plates in front of them became piled with mountains of food, their noses filled with the sweet aromas. The older kids started shoveling food onto their plates, while Kirsten and her first year friends sat in awe.

"Dude, where did all this food come from?"

"House elves," replied Hermione. "Speaking of House Elves would you like to join our organization? It's called S.P.E.W. We're trying to improve the lives of the poor house elves. Isn't that right boys?"

"No. You are," said Ron, his mouth full of potatoes. He swallowed and looked at Kirsten. "Don't join spew. She'll be after you for money and for help making them hats and sweaters."

Kirsten glanced at Harry who was shaking his head as subtly as he could. Hermione smacked him in the head and glared at Ron. "Well?"

"Ummm, I'll have to think about it," Kirsten said, grabbing a roll and buttering it. "I have to get excellent grades to stay in this program, so I might not have time for much fun stuff." Harry and Ron both started coughing violently after she said fun. Hermione flushed a violent shade of red and started eating quietly.

Ron looked at Kirsten. She was tearing her roll into little bits and then rolling them into balls. He raised an eyebrow and laughed. "What're you doing that for?"

Kirsten stopped suddenly and shoved the balls into her mouth. Hermione and Harry were laughing hysterically, and Ron had a huge grin on his face. She tried to swallow the little chunks as quickly as she could, and started choking. Her face turned as scarlet as Ron's hair, and then just as quickly to blue. Hermione and Harry still laughed, but Ron realized what was going on, and pulled Kirsten off of the bench. He wrapped his arms around her stomach, clenched his hands into a ball, and thrust them into her. She spit out the bread and it went flying across the room over the tables right onto the Slytherin's table. All the girls screamed and the boys started yelling profanities towards the Gryffindors.

Kirsten started gasping for breath and then laughing. "Oh my god. That was hilarious. Thanks for saving me Ron."

Ron, who still had his arms around her, just nodded. She stayed wrapped in his arms for a few brief moments, Hermione staring on with her mouth wide open. They were just sitting there in each others arms, not hugging or embracing, just standing there. Hermione cleared her throat suggestively and they broke apart. Ron blushed terribly, and Kirsten's ears turned pink. Kirsten turned around and patted Ron on the shoulder.

"Thanks so much. Well, I'm going to go to the common room, if I can find it. See you later!" She walked away, her cloak waving back and forth behind her as she strutted off.

Harry turned to Ron, "What the bloody hell was that about? You just held onto her for like an hour!"

Ron was staring into space. He shuffled his food around with his fork and his eyes twinkled. "I don't know, man. But whatever it was, it was awesome."

"Oh, boys," Hermione said, and walked away in a huff.

"I'm going to. To the library or the lake or something," Ron walked off too, still in a daze. He ran into the wall on his way out. He picked up his books and walked off, barely noticing that he had made everyone in the hall laugh.

Harry sat all by his lonesome at the table. He grabbed his hair exasperatedly. "Why do I have a feeling that everything is going to be crazy this year?


	5. Chapter 5

American Girl: Chapter 5

As she stepped into the common room for her very first time, Kirsten drew in her breath sharply. This place was dazzling! There were deep scarlet armchairs and couches, beautiful paintings on the walls, tables to do homework at, and a roaring fire. Kirsten jumped into an armchair and bounced a little. Very comfortable, she thought. She noticed a sign pointing towards the girls' bedroom and walked up the stairs. Turning the corner, she gasped again. Four poster beds! She ran over to hers, finding her stuff already neatly stored in a trunk at the foot of her bed. A picture of her family sat on her end table, and a little porcelain figure of a ballerina. Kirsten collapsed onto her bed only to find that the red velvet bedspread and mattress were just as comfortable as the furniture in the main room. Very pleased with her new environment, Kirsten walked back into the common room, only to find Hermione reading a huge book.

"Hey, girl!" she called, and sat down next to Hermione. Hermione sighed very quietly, and nonchalantly moved a few inches away from Kirsten. "Hi," she replied, her nose still buried in the book.

"Wow, this place is awesome!" said Kirsten turning towards her. "I can't believe that you guys have gotten to live here for five years. So jealous. The dormitories in Cali were so way not as cool as this." She flipped her hair off of her shoulder and looked at Hermione more closely. There was something wrong. "What's up? Is something the matter?"

"No," Hermione replied, and kept on reading.

"Yes there is," Kirsten said in a singsong voice. "And you are going to tell me what the matter is!"

Hermione sighed once again, closed her book, and looked up at Kirsten. "It's Ron I guess."

"Ooooh!" Kirsten squealed and leaned in closer to her new friend. "You like him don't you?"

Hermione looked around, checking if anyone was there. "Yes I do. But don't tell anyone! You're the only one who knows, not even Ginny! But how could I tell her? She's his sister! She would totally tell him. I mean, if I had a brother and my best friend was obsessed with him, I would be very inclined to tell. Not that I'm obsessed with him, well maybe I am. I don't really care though because he doesn't like me so I'm going to stop liking him. Well, he might've used to like me but he doesn't like me today so I don't either. And..."

Kirsten cut her off. "Woah! And you said I could talk!" Hermione blushed the color of the sofa they were sitting on. "It's okay, girl. He's a great guy! You deserve a guy like him. And he deserves a great girl like you! He is an extreme hottie, and beautimous babes like you always get the nice hotties."

Hermione stared puzzled at Kirsten. Boy did they talk differently in America. But then she snapped to attention. "You think Ron is good looking? Do you like him?"

Her face remaining unchanged, Kirsten snapped back, "Of course not! I met him today!" Boy was she glad she was so good at poker! She needed to be convincing. "He's all yours. And he will be yours, don't you worry about it. And your secret is safe with me, honey."

Hermione smiled. Even if Ron was in love with her, she was a nice girl. Good best friend material. The trio was definitely in need of another female to balance the hormones. Too much testosterone could really do something to a girl. "Thanks a lot Kirsten. I feel better. I'll talk to you later." And with that, she closed her book and walked to the bedroom.

Kirsten watched Hermione walk away, holding her breath. As soon as she heard the bedroom door slam, she let all of her air out with a big sigh. She felt bad lying to Hermione, but how could she tell her that she liked Ron when she was so upset? That would have killed her! Getting Ron would have to come a little later, when everyone least expected it.

Ron strolled lightheartedly up the stairs, climbing and climbing until he finally reached the tallest one. He opened the door of the Astronomy Tower, checked to see if anyone was there, then plopped himself on the ground. He lay flat on his back, staring at the stars through the open ceiling. The brightest and most brilliant star caught his eye. He turned his head to look at it and smiled. That one is Kirsten he thought. He thought back to dinner, holding her in his arms for those few moments that felt like decades. He hadn't been so happy with a girl in a long time. And he had just met her! Holding her in his arms had felt so heavenly, like grabbing a piece of a fluffy cloud, or clutching your favorite teddy bear. It felt good. Damn good. Another thought leaked into his mind... Hermione. She had seemed kind of weird at dinner. He rolled over onto his stomach and rested his chin on his hand. Was she jealous? Did she finally like him? Two wonderful, amazing, gorgeous girls to choose from. What a blessing, he thought. And yet, what a curse. How would he decide? Man... he thought. I guess right now I'll get to know Kirsten more. Then I'll decide the better of the two.


End file.
